Chelsea lose with a new coach
Haaland shoots himself spectacularly warm for Bayern
04/08/2023 8:59 p.m
Erling Haaland was missing for several weeks. The Manchester City striker is back with his Premier League goals 29 and 30 just in time for the Champions League cracker against FC Bayern. Things are going far worse for Frank Lampard at Chelsea.
The English soccer champions Manchester City and their goalscorer Erling Haaland seem prepared for the first Champions League duel with the German title holders Bayern Munich. Before the quarter-final first leg in the premier class against the Bundesliga leaders on Tuesday (9 p.m./Prime Video and in the live ticker at ntv.de) the Citizens in the domestic Premier League celebrated a dress rehearsal befitting their status with a 4-1 (1-0) win against bottom FC Southampton.
Haaland put together a brace (45th/68th) on his comeback after an injury break of several weeks and now has 30 goals this season. He took the lead just before the half-time whistle. After Jack Grealish made it 2-0 (58th minute), the 22-year-old increased the lead to 3-0 (68th minute) with a spectacular side kick after Grealish’s preliminary work. In the meantime, the ex-Dortmunder has scored 44 goals in 38 competitive games in Citizens dress.
The Argentinian world champion Julian Alvarez (74th, penalty kick) put the final point for the team of national player İlkay Gündoğan. Former Bundesliga professional Kevin De Bruyne became the fifth player in Premier League history to reach 100 assists with his assist to Haaland’s first goal.
Newcastle, Man United and Tottenham win
In contrast, the second team manager engagement of club icon Frank Lampard at Chelsea began unsuccessfully. The team of German national player Kai Havertz lost 0:1 (0:1) at Wolverhampton Wanderers. Chelsea remained without a win for the fourth time in a row, and hopes for a turnaround after the split from Graham Potter were unfulfilled. Matheus Nunes (31′) scored the hosts’ goal of the day that put the Blues even further away from a place in the European Cup.
In the three-way battle for the two Champions League spots behind the top duo with London league leaders FC Arsenal (on Sunday at Liverpool FC) and pursuers and defending champions Man City, Newcastle United, record champions Manchester United and Tottenham Hotspur marched in step.
Newcastle are in third place after 2-1 (0-1) at Brentford only on goal difference ahead of ManUnited, who won 2-0 (1-0) against Everton. The Spurs stayed three points behind with a 2-1 (1-1) win over Brighton & Hove Albion within striking distance of the duo. Heung-Min Son also had an anniversary to celebrate at Spurs: the South Korean’s goal to put London temporarily 1-0 up was the 100th Premier League goal for the former Hamburg and Leverkusen Bundesliga star.